European Commission calls for comments ahead of April Codex meeting
on proposed maximum levels of the potentially carcinogenic chemical
contaminant 3-MCPD in hydrolysed vegetable protein and soy sauces.

3-MCPD (3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol), a chemical which may be
formed in foods by the reaction of chloride with lipids, can occur
in foods and food ingredients as a result of processing, migration
from packaging materials during storage, or in domestic
cooking.

Specifically Brussels is seeking feedback on draft maximum
levels of 3-MCPD in HVP and soy sauces that involve acid-hydrolysis
in the production processes, or where products from acid-hydrolysis
might be present in the sauce.

The market for yeast extract based flavour enhancers has been
growing in parallel to the waning popularity of HVPs.

Food makers are increasingly moving away from including HVPs in
their formulations and towards yeast extract flavour enhancers,
driven by concerns that acid-hydrolysed HVP, produced using
hydrochloric acid, could be potentially carcinogenic due to the
3-MCPD levels.

Since April 2002 Europe has operated a maximum level of 0.02
mg/kg for 3-MCPD in HVP and soy sauce, a level set when 3-MCPD was
originally considered to be a genotoxic (DNA changing)
carcinogen.

Subsequent risk assessments have concluded that 3-MCPD is
carcinogenic, but not genotoxic.

In view of the apparent lower risk the maximum level was
reviewed.

"However, enforcement activities showed that 3-MCPD levels
above this value tend to be very much higher and appear to be a
result of bad practice,"​ says the Commission.

No information has come forward to show that following good
practice a level greater than 0.02 mg/kg is necessary, the
executive concludes.

The Commission claims the recent collection of data and
estimates of dietary intake by EU member states "confirm that
0.02 mg/kg would protect consumers and help ensure that soy sauces
do not contribute significantly towards the Tolerable Daily Intake
(TDI) of 2 µg/kg body weight, derived by the Scientific Committee
on Food in 2001."​

Moreover, at 0.02 mg/kg 3-MCPD, the levels of associated
chloropropanols - the family of chemical contaminants to which
3-MCPD belongs - are generally very low and would not require
separate maximum levels, adds Brussels.

Comments are needed ahead of the meeting of the Codex Committee
on Food Additives and Contaminants, 38th Session in The Netherlands
in April 2006.